Something Missing
by Ranlie
Summary: Sportacus hasn't shown up in Lazytown for days. What could have happened to everyone's favourite aboveaverage hero? Rated T for safety because I'm not sure where this will go.


AN: There's a plot here, somewhere. I might even find it before the end. I think this is going to end up SportaSteph, if you're into that. (Taking it for granted that Stephanie is older than in the show, of course.)

Disclaimer: I own a cracked laptop and a fickle Corolla whose doors don't close when it's cold. I certainly don't own Lazytown or anything related to it.

* * *

Stephanie dropped to the ground, her cheeks flushed with excitement. She was dressed for the weather, with a pink jacket trimmed in white fur, and a long pink scarf that was embroidered with white snowflakes. On mittened hands, she crawled over to Trixie, who was packing snowballs vigorously and piling them to one side.

"He's brought out the Snowball Thrower 6000," reported Stephanie, taking a couple of snowballs herself. She gave them an extra few pats to make sure they wouldn't fall apart mid-air. "I'm not sure we can beat that."

Trixie grinned up at Stephanie from beneath frosted lashes. "Please, Pinky. You honestly think that I didn't plan for Pixel to use one of his little inventions?"

On the word "little", they heard a muffled boom followed by dismayed shouts. Stephanie went back to the wall and peeked through a hole created for just that purpose. Thick black smoke poured from the enemy camp, and she could just make out the three boys piling snow on top of something that looked like a many-armed catapult. She giggled as Pixel tried to stop Stingy and Ziggy from further damaging his machine.

Trixie joined her on their makeshift parapet, still grinning madly.

"Remind me to always be on your side," Stephanie said, before they both began to giggle. "Ready?"

"Aim!" Trixie added.

"FIRE!"

A barrage of snowballs fell on the boys' fort. The tone of their shouts quickly changed as they struggled to find cover, but their hold was still filled with smoke. Ziggy fled first, shouting "We give!", followed by Pixel and, finally, Stingy.

Trixie and Stephanie high-fived each other and went to join the boys. Pixel and Ziggy were laughing, and although Stingy looked reluctant to join in (since "his" machine had been ruined) he was smiling as well.

"Told you three on two wouldn't be enough," Trixie said boastfully. She hefted a snowball, then dropped it after she was satisfied that the three boys had winced.

"I'd win if I had Sportacus on my team!" countered Stingy, who looked longingly at the blue airship that hovered in the distance. "He could have thrown giant snowballs at you!"

"But Sportacus hasn't been around in days," Pixel said, turning with the other children to observe the silent airship.

"I fell off the swing yesterday, and he didn't even come to rescue me," added Ziggy. "I was trying to jump off it when it got really high, but I did it wrong and...fell..."

It took him a moment to realise that everyone was now staring at him. Ziggy blushed. "It wasn't a big deal. I just got a few bruises and stuff. I mostly fell into the snow."

"Why didn't you tell us before?" Stephanie asked, far more brusquely than Ziggy really thought the situation warranted.

"It _was_ pretty stupid," Trixie said, but even she didn't sound convinced.

"It wasn't a big deal," said Ziggy pointedly, giving Trixie a dirty look.

"That doesn't compute," Pixel said. "Sportacus always comes when we're in trouble."

"Maybe he's in trouble?" Stingy asked. "He could be locked in, or sick, or worse, what if he's d--" he stopped when Trixie nudged him hard in the ribs. Stephanie had grown more and more pale as he listed all of the things that could be wrong with Sportacus. "--drunk?" he finished lamely. Trixie smacked the back of his head with her open hand.

"Let's send him a letter and ask him," said Trixie.

Stephanie reached into her bag and pulled out a mail tube. The others watched as she drew from it a blank, pink piece of paper and a pen. There was a brief scuffle as they decided who would act as the table, but eventually Stingy relented and bent over so Stephanie could write on his back.

"Dear Sportacus," Pixel read aloud, reading over her shoulder.

"We haven't seen you in awhile, and we wanted to make sure you are okay. Please write back.

"Love, Stephanie."

"Pinky's in looooove," Trixie teased, and the boys snickered to themselves.

Stephanie blushed furiously. "Well, I haven't got an eraser, so it's just got to stay that way," she said, stuffing the letter into the mail tube with more force than was really necessary. "Hmph!"

The group walked over to the nearest mailbox. It took them a few minutes to shove enough snow aside for the lever to work, but eventually it was clear. Stephanie slid the letter into the tube and pulled on the lever as hard as she could. The tube rocketed skyward, and they all watched it until it shot through the airship above.

"How long do you think it'll take?" asked Ziggy.

"Not long," Pixel answered. "He usually takes less than four minutes to arrive. Give or take a few nanoseconds."

But four minutes soon passed. Then another four, and another. Trixie was starting to lose interest in her game of stuffing snow down Stingy's jacket when Stephanie, who had been silent the whole time, stomped her foot in a fit of anger. They all fell silent, staring at the normally complacent girl.

"He's not coming," Stephanie said heatedly. "We have to do something!"

Pixel patted Stephanie on the shoulder, feeling awkward as he tried to comfort her. "Relax, Steph. I'll think of something."

Stephanie sighed. "Just...think fast."


End file.
